


when you came in, the air went out

by blackkat



Series: From the Sannin to Shisui - Older Generation Drabbles [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Kakashi is still finding his troll-legs, M/M, Poor Omoi, he's the test subject, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 08:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16530677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: “Your Kage gotde-agedand you’re not going to fix it?” Omoi asks, horrified.Sakura gives him the same sort of look Karui always does, though Sakura's comes with the added knowledge that she’s the strongest kunoichi in the Elemental Countries and will probably punt Omoi into the sun at some point. “Wecan'tfix him,” she retorts. “The change is permanent. Whatever that scroll did, it wasn’t just cosmetic. He really is seventeen now.”





	when you came in, the air went out

“Your Kage got _de-aged_ and you’re not going to fix it?” Omoi asks, horrified.

 Sakura gives him the same sort of look Karui always does, though Sakura's comes with the added knowledge that she’s the strongest kunoichi in the Elemental Countries and will probably punt Omoi into the sun at some point. “We _can't_ fix him,” she retorts. “The change is permanent. Whatever that scroll did, it wasn’t just cosmetic. He really is seventeen now.”

Omoi sucks desperately on his lollipop, trying to figure out what to say. _I'm sorry for your loss_ seems both insufficient and insensitive, and _wow_ is definitely not going to cut it here. For a moment he debates what would probably be Bee’s response, but rejects that as well on the grounds that no one ever takes it in the spirit that it’s meant, even when Bee does it.

“Does he remember…” But Sakura is already shaking her head, mouth tight.

“Nothing after the age of seventeen. I'm sorry, Omoi,” she says on a sigh. “You came all this way to meet with the Hokage, and now—”

“It’s okay!” Omoi says quickly, throwing his hands up to ward off the apology. “I can talk to whoever is standing in.”

“Me,” Sakura says tiredly, getting the door for him. Omoi would protest, but Sakura could pick him up and use him as a battering ram without even blinking, and he doesn’t want to be a human blunt instrument today. “Naruto and Sasuke are somewhere messengers can't find, and I haven’t gotten any letters from them in the last few months, so I'm just doing what I can.”

Privately, Omoi thinks that that’s probably the best possible outcome, judging by what Sai has said about Naruto's leadership style. He’s _inspiring_ , but while it might be Omoi's Kumo mentality showing, he generally thinks a Kage needs more than that to lead. More…ruthlessness. Not that he’s going to _say_ that—Hokage or not, Naruto is more than capable of wiping Kumo off the map, and Omoi doesn’t want to be the one who triggers the next Shinobi World War.

“I can sign the trade papers for now,” Sakura says as she unseals the main door of the Hokage's office, interrupting Omoi's visions of Kumo crumbling under the force of Naruto's chakra as Naruto rages over the insult to his Kage. “Someone might have to ratify them later but I'm acting Hokage, so they should hold for now.”

“That’s fine,” Omoi says, because A respects Tsunade, and he respects her student by extension. It’s not the perfect situation, but Sakura is at least honorable.

…Of course, there's always the chance that A will decide he doesn’t want to agree, and Sakura will be insulted, and then Omoi will end up in the crossfire for agreeing. He’s _seen_ Sakura punch holes in trees, and then she can fix him and punch him again, and again, and _again_ —

“I don’t want to be a zombie punching bag,” Omoi tells Sakura a little desperately.

“What?” Sakura asks, looking confused. She glances from Omoi to the door she’s holding open, and then her eyes widen sharply. “ _What_? Where did he go?”

Omoi blinks, leaning past her to glance around the Hokage's office. It’s entirely empty, without even an open window to provide easy exit. He casts a quick look over the corners, but they're brightly lit by the sun streaming in, not a decent place to hide. Sakura is moving, turning away, but Omoi catches her elbow before she can take more than a step, and he can't fight a faint frown.

“Was this door locked?” he asks.

“Sealed from the outside,” Sakura confirms. “He’s—he’s confused right now, so we wanted to keep him somewhere where he couldn’t hurt himself. Just until we can get through to him—”

The flash of movement comes from one of the corners of the ceiling, a patch of discolored paint that Omoi very carefully wasn’t looking at. He throws Sakura back—she’ll probably kill him for that later, zombie punching bag is _definitely_ in his future, damn it—even as he draws his sword and lunges, and the blade crashes into another with bone-ratting force.

“Seal it!” Omoi calls, and when the attacker tries to flip over his head he grabs his ankle, twists and drags him down. They hit the floor in a tangle, but Omoi is used to Karui and her penchant for fighting dirty, doesn’t hesitate to plant his elbow in the attacker’s middle and roll to his feet, sword up and braced.

In the same instant, the doors of the office swing shut, and a wave of chakra crashes over the room, strong and precise enough to make Omoi shiver. Sakura is _definitely_ strong enough to be Hokage, and she’s fairly ruthless, too. Not a bad pick, seeing as their other Kage currently looks like…this.

“Do you really think that was a good idea?” Hatake Kakashi, all of seventeen, asks Omoi, and the lazy sort of ease that usually hangs over him is gone. Or maybe just not developed yet. He’s jagged, _sharp_ , to the point where Omoi is certain he’s going to get cut on Kakashi’s edges just looking at him. “How quickly do you think she’ll open that door once you start screaming?”

 _Or_ Omoi could end up cut that way. Wonderful. He sighs, spits out the stick of his lollipop, and lifts his sword an inch higher. “She won't,” he says, even though that’s probably a lie—Sakura has spent too much time around Naruto to be _that_ ruthless. But if Kakashi only has the memories he would have had at seventeen, he’s not going to know that.

And, like Omoi expected, there's a flicker in Kakashi’s uncovered eye, a hesitation. He doesn’t know Sakura, and he doesn’t know Omoi. The whole village must be strange to him right now, and Omoi feels a trace of sympathy, even if he’s not going to let Kakashi torture him to get the office doors open.

“She’s telling you the truth,” he says, and Kakashi’s eye narrows. “I—”

“You're from Kumo,” Kakashi interrupts, but he isn't moving to attack, even if that tone is vaguely hostile. “Your ambassador just tried to _kidnap_ a _clan heir._ ”

Of course that’s what he’s remembering. Of course that’s _when he’s from_ , because Omoi's life is just like that. “Not _just_ ,” he corrects, because that seems like the only response here. “Kumo and Konoha are allies now.” The suspicion doesn’t fade even an ounce, and Omoi curses inwardly, then lowers his sword. Neither of them is leaving this room for a while, and as interesting as it would be to fight Kakashi and his thousand jutsus, just thinking of doing it gives Omoi heart palpitations. What if he kills Kakashi? What if Kakashi kills _him_? what if Naruto and Sasuke walk in and think this is an attempted murder and turn Omoi into paste on the ground?

“I'm going to hand you my sword,” he says even though every instinct is screaming that this is the worst idea he’s ever had. Kakashi has a _reputation_ for never hesitating when it comes to kills, and Omoi is going to give up his only real defense. Karui would definitely not approve. “Our villages are _allies_ , and Sakura is Acting Hokage. A merchant brought you a scroll and it was boobytrapped—”

The sword vanishes from his hand, and in the same instant a body slams into his, perfectly aimed to overbalance him. Omoi yelps, expecting a sword to the throat, a hand through his chest, a long fall into nothingness—

His back hits the wall, hard enough to knock the air from his lungs, and Omoi wheezes even as he throws his hands up, fingers spread, very definitely not a jutsu. There's no pain, though, just a hand fisted in the front of his shirt, Kakashi looming in front of him. Omoi stares at the face of one of the shinobi world’s most dangerous men, and all he can think is that Kakashi is _his_ age. Seventeen isn't young for a shinobi, but it’s young for _Kakashi_ , and there's panic buried deep down in his face, sharp and desperate.

“I remember a scroll,” Kakashi says, ragged.

Thank _everything_. Omoi blows out a relieved breath, bringing his hands down just enough to show Kakashi the measure of it. “This long, with a wax seal in gold and green? In the shape of a bird?”

“A phoenix,” Kakashi allows, and he meets Omoi's gaze, still wary but with a thread of awareness rising. “But the scroll disintegrated.”

“Sakura took a picture,” Omoi says, pointing at the door where Sakura just was. “She was hoping Tsunade knew the seals and could help figure out what it was.”

Kakashi’s grip loosens, eases off. He rocks back on his heels, expression conflicted, and hesitates for a long moment. Then, quietly, he asks, “Kumo's an ally? Tsunade is here?”

“She was the Godaime,” Omoi confirms, and tips his head towards the far end of the office, where a wall hides the carved faces of the Hokage. Relief leaves his hands a little clumsy, but he’s never again going to roll his eyes at Samui when she tells them to try talking things through before picking a fight. “There’s proof.”

“I’ll check,” Kakashi says, like a warning, but he doesn’t argue. Turns, hiding his face, and—

Kakashi is his age, Omoi thinks again, and he’s in an unfamiliar world. He reaches out, touches Kakashi’s arm before he realizes what he’s doing, and for a moment he can see his death, Kakashi whipping around and stabbing him in the throat—

That’s not what happens. Kakashi tenses hard, almost a flinch, but he doesn’t move away, and Omoi says quietly, “Your comrades are still here. They’ll do anything to help you. Even if they can't fix this…”

“Are you a comrade?” Kakashi asks, and it sounds like it’s meant to be harsh, angry, but it comes out closer to an honest question. It catches Omoi off guard, though, makes him pause, and he remembers Kakashi in the war, the way the genjutsu broke and left Team 7 conquering heroes, the day of Kakashi’s inauguration and how Omoi felt to be in the crowd, Kumo's ambassador in a newly-established peace.

“Yes,” he says, and Kakashi turns to look at him, eyes sharp, attention fully fixed on Omoi.

There's a long pause, and then Kakashi takes a breath. “I believe you,” he says, like it’s just as much a revelation to him as it is to Omoi.

Omoi breathes out, slumping back against the wall, and rubs his temple. “Thank you,” he says with relief.

Kakashi doesn’t answer, just stares at him for another long moment before he turns away. “Are you coming?” he asks.

Blinking, Omoi stares after him. “Coming?” he echoes.

Leaping up, Kakashi sticks himself to the ceiling, nudges at that discolored patch of paint. “Out,” he clarifies. “I told you I’d check.”

 _Out_. Sakura was under the impression that this was a sealed room, and Omoi believed her. He muffles a groan, but—

If he loses Kakashi, Sakura will draw and quarter him, all by herself. She’ll murder him slowly, and then Karui will break off her relationship with Chōji, and then Chōji will want to get revenge on Kumo, and the Akimichi will go to war with the Yamanaka and the Nara backing them, and—

“I'm coming,” Omoi says, strangled, and snags his sword, then leaps to follow Kakashi. The ceiling is apparently hiding a door—not a genjutsu, just a clever optical illusion—and Kakashi slides out through the opening without pause.

“You worry too much,” he tells Omoi as they emerge onto the roof. “I can _smell_ you worrying.”

Omoi groans, splaying a hand over his face. “You're the one _making_ me worry!” he protests.

There's a startled pause, a glance. Kakashi blinks at him for a long moment, hesitates like he’s debating something, and then says, “I haven’t even started trying yet.”

Omoi _hates him_ , even if he is cute at seventeen. _Hates_. His hair would be turning white if it wasn’t already. “Please don’t try,” he says, though he’s largely resigned to the oncoming torture already.

Kakashi shoots him a look that’s shades of his old expressions, weighing what reaction he can get with a few words. “Maa,” he offers, lighter than any words before. “I always try my best at everything.”

It’s a blatant lie, but it’s also a promise of oncoming suffering, and Omoi gives him a dirty look. Kakashi smiles back, pure bullshit even if it’s less practiced than normal, and leaps lightly down towards the ground.

With visions of mass destruction and chaos and Sakura punching bag zombies swimming in his head, Omoi follows.


End file.
